Kentucky education leaders push back as federal mental health grants for schools face cuts

KENTUCKY (FOX 56) — What was once a bipartisan investment in student mental health is now being scaled back, and Kentucky education leaders are raising red flags.

The Trump administration announced it will cut $1 million in federal grants that schools nationwide have been using to hire mental health professionals. For many Kentucky educators, the move feels like a step in the wrong direction.

“These cuts feel like a step back when it comes to mental health stigmas,” said Eddie Campbell, president of the Kentucky Education Association.

“Making sure that we’re having conversations about what mental health is and what healthy mental health is is important, and we need to be having that conversation,” Campbell added.

The grants were part of the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, legislation passed in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting. The bill funneled federal dollars into schools to address growing concerns over student mental health.

“Any cuts to public education are going to always be harmful because we’re making cuts that are going to directly impact the students that we serve every day,” Campbell said.

Campbell noted that Kentucky had already taken steps at the state level to prioritize mental health in schools, pointing to legislation like Senate Bill 1 of 2019.

“Not only with the Safer Communities Act of 2022, which was a bipartisan bill after Uvalde,” he said, “but also Senate Bill 1 of 2019, which increased the ratio of student to counselor and mental health specialists in our schools here in the state of Kentucky.”

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman also weighed in on social media, writing, “Our kids deserve better.”

Campbell echoed that sentiment, noting the toll recent natural disasters have taken on Kentucky students.

“We had major flooding in the eastern part of the state. We had tornadoes in the western part of the state,” he said. “There’s been lots of trauma that our students have faced over the last several years, and making sure that our students have someone there that’s trained to help support them and their mental health is very important.”

As for what comes next, Campbell says the fight isn’t over.

“The question then becomes, ‘How do we provide those same services in the Commonwealth of Kentucky?’” he said. “And that will be a question for legislatures. Are they going to provide additional funding to support this gap that would occur?”

“We will continue to advocate—that’s what we do as a Kentucky Education Association. We stand up for our students; we stand up for our educators.”